Never Apart
by Nymphicus
Summary: Hermione decides to break up with Draco and tries to find another guy to fill her life as does her ex but can they ever really be apart? M for later chapters


"I don't think we can go on like this anymore

**Making Decisions**

Disclaimer: Only the original characters and anything new is mine…and the plot but hey, it has to be! I can't just copy pages from the book now can I?

Hey peoples again! I told you all that I would be writing more and more! Well, this is another one and though the beginning is a little depressing, it will hopefully end on a happier note. So…read and enjoy. Now! Oh and after, click that little review button and do what it says. Thanks!

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"I don't think we can go on like this anymore."

"But Mione, it doesn't matter what others think!"

"Then why do you let it bother you Draco? Why don't you just ignore them? Why do you let them affect you like that?" Hermione practically shouted while fumbling with her gold Fleur De Lis pendant.

"I'm sorry! All of them talking that way about _my_ girl makes me furious! And it doesn't help that every other Gryffindor is giving me death threats! I'll change though! If you just give me another cha…" Hermione cut him off.

"No! No more chances! You do this every single time! You're never going to change!" Then she said in a softer voice, "Maybe we should start seeing other people."

Draco stared at her, eyes full of disbelief, "But I love you! Does that mean anything to you? I want you to be in my life!"

"I know that and I appreciate that more than you could ever imagine but I couldn't keep this huge part of my life a secret anymore! From everyone! I thought at least my friends had a right to know. They amazingly accepted it after a while but that was all I needed even _if_ others didn't. I would have their support and more importantly yours and I expected you all to behave and help me ignore them until they got used to the idea.

Hermione looked away guiltily, "Let's try a month apart, see other people, and maybe after that if things don't work out, we can get back together,"

Silver eyes filled with sadness but also with defeat deep in its silvery pools slowly met warm chocolate ones with the same sadness in them.

"But Mione, if it doesn't work out…" Silence followed as his voice cracked.

Hermione placed her warm palm onto his cheek and smiled sadly.

Lost in thought, she slowly said, "If it doesn't work out after a month, go to the astronomy tower and you might find me if I feel the same way."

Draco cast a hurt look at her when she said the word 'if' that sounded like she would not feel the same way he did.

"We can still be friends right?"

"Of course," Hermione said softly now clasping his hand with both of hers.

"Then… I'll see you during class tomorrow?"

"Yes…, I'd better get going…" she murmured.

"Be careful and stay safe. Filch would be happy to give you a detention," Draco mumbled looking away.

"I will. Who would have thought a Slytherin would be concerned about an 'awful' Gryffindor?"

Draco smiled slightly at this small joke Hermione made to ease the tension.

"No, not awful, never awful," Draco replied.

Hermione returned the smile still clutching his hand.

She then gave a chaste kiss on his right cheek and with a sweep of her long cloak she was gone leaving a boy weeping silently before drying his tears and heading towards the dungeons.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Do you think I made the right choice," asked Hermione while wringing her hands in the small café by the narrow streets of Hogsmead.

"Of course! And I can barely recognize you myself!" replied an excited Ginny while looking over her friend for about the hundredth time.

Hermione thought about changing her personality while starting to date other boys again.

She knew the ones she was familiar with would know she was faking it so she decided to also change her look using a glamour charm.

Now as Ginny stared at her best friend, she saw a stunning girl with dirty blond tresses and two identical turquoise crystals set in a slightly pale face.

Hermione had made her lips more full and added a classical nose to the oval shaped face.

To compliment her elegant features, she wore a cashmere cloak which matched the color of her eyes and she did not need much makeup as her lips were already very pink as were her cheeks and her long eyelashes dark enough to be noticed without highlighting them.

Man her friend looked gorgeous,… not that she didn't before she used the charm, but now that she was persuaded to buy new clothes and wear some light makeup, she was even more stunning.

All eyes were on Hermione as she walked down to a table.

"Hey Mione, I'll see you later! I gotta go see the new broom that just came out! It's the 'Lightning Flare!' I heard it's a real beauty," Ginny exclaimed as she bolted for the door.

She didn't actually need to go to the Quidditch store; she just didn't want to be a third wheel on Hermione's first date since the fight.

Ginny felt a little proud since it was she who set up the new Hermione or as she is now 'called' Aurelie (which meant golden for Gryffindor) with one of Luna's classmates from Ravenclaw named Charis.

She was to be one of Ginny's old childhood friends visiting for the month but using the cover-up for dates only.

Mentally going over a checklist on what 'Aurelie' would want to talk about, she turned her attention to the brown haired boy entering the fragrant café.

"I heard you are visiting Hogwarts on vacation. Are you enjoying your stay so far?" asked Ryan while sitting down across from Hermione with a plop.

"Yeah. I especially love the roomy library!" Hermione exclaimed. _"Oops! Perhaps a little too much like Hermione. What else would Aurelie say?" _She got a little nervous and next thing you know she blurted out the only thing that came to mind that was definitely not Hermioneish, "I love the Quidditch field the best though. Perfect for triple flipturns." Hermione didn't even know what the hell a triple flipturn was but she had heard Ron and Harry using this term.

"Oh. Yeah. Well I guess that's cool." Hermione's date muttered uninterested.

Seeing the conversation start to die slowly, Hermione called for a waiter.

Hermione ordered a cinnamon scone and a cup of mint tea.

Ryan ordered three chocolate drizzled scones and a large butterbeer.

He also ordered a mug of raspberry hot chocolate and the daily special: Madame Barry's Super Sweet Melt in Your Mouth Cheescake.

A _whole _Madame Barry's Super Sweet Melt in Your Mouth Cheesecake!

When the food arrived, Hermione took small bites out of her deliciously warm scone, now and then sipping some of her tea but what she saw made her lose her appetite.

Ryan guzzled down his butterbeer in one gulp and had a whole scone in his mouth_ while _telling Hermione (with his mouth open) how he hade once won a bet by wearing a dress throughout a school day.

She would have thought this quite amusing but her attention was on his mouth: chewing, slopping, spitting food out of his mouth whenever he laughed at one of his own jokes!

Even the term disgusting beyond belief was an understatement.

For the next thirty grueling minutes, Hermione was forced to smile weakly at his attempts to make a joke while wolfing down more than half of the cheesecake and drinking his hot chocolate all at the same time.

By the time Ryan had finished his "treat" and paid for the bill, Hermione thought she might just hurl if she smelled food in the next second.

As she met up with her redhead friend, Ginny asked excitedly how the date went eagerly waiting for every detail to spill from the 'blonde'.

"Horrible! He spent the whole entire time eating like there was no tomorow! It was disgusting! He managed to eat a whole cheesecake, three scones, a butterbeer, and a mug of hot chocolate! You would think he had been starved the way he ate his way through the food!

"He asked me on a second date for the next Hogsmead trip but I couldn't stand another one with _him _so I made an excuse saying I would be going home by then! And even worse, my mind kept wandering back to Draco! I can't seem to get him off my mind! I mean, every second I'm wondering which girl he is with now and what they are doing at the moment! It's driving me crazy!" Hermione vented as she walked briskly beside Ginny back to the carriages.

"Don't worry! I've got it all planned out for you _Aurelie. _Every other guy in this town has heard about you now and they are all waiting in line to be your intimate boyfriend so I'm taking my time interviewing them to see if they are suitable for you. Relax, everything is going to be alright!" Ginny said with a smirk as she patted Hermione on the back while walking up to the castle.

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"Damn" thought Draco. The whole fight and 'breakup' between Hermione and him seemed to spread throughout the school's girls and now hundreds followed him everywhere each hoping to be the next Mrs. Draco Malfoy.

This was the sixth time today he eluded the frivolous girls by taking a detour into the boy's bathroom.

It was getting insane! He knew once he exited this bathroom, he would soon be surrounded by the maniacs again.

Last time one brave girl followed him _into _the boy's bathroom and wouldn't leave until he threatened to humiliate her in front of the whole student body.

This time he would sneak out the window_._

"_Yeah that's brilliant! Except that there was a fifty foot drop to the bottom. Great now he was either facing fifty girls trying to force him to give them a kiss or a fifty foot drop that would include a broken leg and most likely a week in the hospital wing," _Draco thought_. "Oh well I guess I'll face the girls then, being in the hospital wing would just give them an excuse to molest me while I'm defenseless." _

But lucky for him, his best mate Blaise Zambini was at the door and the corridor was empty.

"How'd you get rid of those evil leeches?" Draco asked in amazement.

"Simple. Told them you fell out the window and was currently in the hospital wing with no one around to comfort you," Blaise said while smirking.

"Hmm, I didn't think of that." Draco murmured mostly to himself. Blaise laughed.

"That's because you're not scheming enough, especially after you dated Granger." As soon as these words came out of his mouth, Blaise immediately regretted saying this to his heartbroken friend.

He watched as Draco's face clouded over for a moment before a forced smile appeared.

"Hah. Must have rubbed onto me more than I thought"

"You know Draco, I have another brilliant plan to get you back with the ladies without them drooling over the 'Draco' they know."

"What is it?" Draco spoke heartlessly. From experience, he knew Blaise would relentlessly keep on about how he had a 'brilliant' plan until you finally listened and he just wanted to get it over with so he could be alone.

"Dude! Lighten up! Not all of my plans are that bad! Ok, maybe that one about replacing Snape's shampoo with chocolate sauce wasn't my best but we had a laugh when he came to class trying to get ants out of his hair! No this has been one of my breakthroughs EVER!" Blaise exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Yeah we should celebrate; you get one of those only every decade," Draco muttered holding his head in his hands, "Just get on with it." Blaise continued after one last glare at his so called buddy.

"Well, before I was _rudely_ interrupted, I was thinking you could do a glamour charm on yourself disguising yourself as a different person so girls will act naturally around you!"

"Blaise you're a genius!" Draco cried. Blaise looked at him with an 'I told you so' look while crossing his arms.

The two were then seen with mischievous smiles on their lighted faces, heading towards the school's library.

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a/n: how was that for another? I have tons of plans for this one and like 5 other unfinished chapters of other stories that will be posted soon. TOO MANY IDEAS! NOT ENOUGH TIME TO TYPE THEM! ARGH! Ok now that is out of my system for a while. Well you read, now it is time to review so click that button!


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